Very Short Answer Type Questions [1 Mark]
Question. Which political party laid emphasis on the idea of one party, one culture and one nation?
Answer: Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
Question. Which political party of India had leaders like A.K. Gopalan, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, and S.A. Dange?
Answer: Communist Party of India.
Question. Who was the founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh?
Answer: Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in 1951.
Question. In which year was the Election Commission of India set up and who was the first chief ElectionCommissioner of India?
Answer: 25 January 1950, Sukumar Sen.
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Question. Name the founder president of the Congress Socialist Party. What name was given to this partyafter 1948?
Answer: The founder president of the Congress Socialist Party was Acharya Narendra Dev and after 1955 it came to be known as Socialist Party.
Question. Differentiate between one party dominance and one party system.
Answer: One party dominance refer to representation on behalf of popular consensus alongwith free and fair elections i.e. Congress in India whereas one party system refers representation based on malpractice, fraud etc. to ensure winning of a particular party.
Question. When and why was the electronic voting machine used in India for the first time?
Answer: The electronic voting machine was used in India in 1990 for first time for more accuracy and fair dealing while counting as well as it helps to check Booth capturing and other malpractices.
Question. How did socialist party origin?
Answer: The founder president of the Congress socialist party was Acharya Narendra Dev and after 1955 it came to be known as Socialist Party.
9. Define faction.
Answer: Faction are the groups formed inside the party i.e. coalitions made in Congress created various Material Downloaded from SUPERCOP factions which were based on either ideological considerations or personal ambitions.
Question. When and by whom PRI was founded?
Answer: The ‘Institutional Revolutionary Party’ (PRI) was founded in 1929 by Plutareo Elias Calles in Mexico which represented the legacy of Mexican Revolution.
Short Answer Type Questions [2 Marks]
Question. How did the dominance of Congress Party in the first three general elections help in establishing a democratic set-up in India?
Answer: The first general election was the first big test of democracy in a poor and illiterate country.
Till then democracy had existed only in the prosperous countries. By that time many countries in Europe had not given voting rights to all women. In this context India’s experiment with universal adult franchise appeared very bold and risky. India’s general election of 1952 became a landmark in the history of democracy all over the world. It was no longer possible to argue that domocratic elections could not be held on conditions of poverty or lack of education. It proved that democracy could be practised anywhere in the world. The next two general elections strengthened democratic set-up in India.
Question. Highlight any two features of ideology of Bharatiya Jana Sangh.
Answer:
1. Bharatiya Jana Sangh laid emphasis on ideology of one country, one culture and one nation.
2. Bharatiya Jana Sangh called for reunity of India and Pakistan in Akhand Bharat.
Question. Explain the major difference of ideology between that of Congress and the Bharatiya JanaSangh.
Answer: The major difference of ideology between Congress and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh was that Bharatiya Jana Sangh emphasised on one party country. One culture, one nation i.e. a Hindu nation or Hindutva whereas Congress formed ideological and social coalitions accommodating social diversities.
Question. State any two ideologies of the Swatantra Party.
Answer: Swatantra Party was founded by Senior Congress leader C. Rajgopalachari in August 1959:
1.The party believed that prosperity could come only through individual freedom.
2.This party was against land ceilings in agriculture and opposed to cooperative farming.
Question. How has the method of voting changed from the first General Election of 1952 to the General Election of 2004?
Answer:
1. In the first General Election a box was placed inside each polling booth for each candidate with the election symbol of the candidate. Each voter was given a blank ballot paper to drop into the box, they wanted to vote for.
2. After first two elections, this method was changed. Now ballot paper carried the names and symbols of candidates and the voter stamped against the name of candidate to vote for.
3. In 2004, Electronic Voting Machine were introduced to press the button according to choice of the voter containing the name of candidate and symbol of political party.
Question. When was Communist Party emerged?
Answer: The Communist Party emerged in 1920 in different parts of India. It took the inspiration from Bolshevik revolution in Russia. The important leaders of CPI were A.K. Gopalan, S.A. Dange, E.M.S. Namboodiripad, P.C. Joshi, Ajay Ghosh etc.
Question. “India’s experiment with universal adult franchise appeared very bold and risky”. Justify thestatement.
Answer: Because:
1. Country’s vast size and electorates made these elections unusual.
2. The year 1952, it was a big test for poor and illiterate country.
3. Till then, democracy had been existed only in the prosperous countries mainly in Europe and North America where everyone was almost literate.
Question. Mention the aims and goals of Socialist Party of India. Why the party could not prove itself as an effective alternative to the Congress?
Answer: Aims and goals of socialist party of India:
1. The Socialist Party believed in the ideology of democratic socialism to be distinguished from Congress and Communists both.
2. It criticised Congress for ignoring the workers and peasants.
It became difficult for socialist party to prove itself as an effective alternative to Congress because Congress Party declared its goal to be the socialist pattern of society in 1955.
Question. What were the reasons for dominance of one party system in India?
Answer: The dominance of Congress in India was due to following reasons:
1. Congress was identified with the freedom struggle for building national unity and solidarity.
2. Congress was associated with Mahatma Gandhi’s name.
3. It had a broad based manifesto to include the various section of society.
4. Congress bore a popular appeal of charismatic leader like Mahatma Gandhi, J.L. Nehru, Sardar Patel, Indira Gandhi etc.
5. Congress focused on building role of the party.
Question. How did India’s first general elections of 1952 become a landmark in the history of democracy all over the world?
Answer: Because:
1. These elections were competitive among various parties.
2. The participation of people was encouraging also.
3. The results were declared in a very fair manner, even to be accepted by the losers in a fair manner.
4. This experiment of India, proved the critics wrong also.
